Knoxville, Tenn. (AP) — Dalton Knecht scored 21 points and No. 17 Tennessee rallied from a second-half deficit to beat No. 20 Illinois 86-79 on Saturday.
Knecht had eight points in a pivotal four-minute stretch when Tennessee (6-3) rallied from a four-point deficit to a six-point lead with just over 13 minutes to play. The Illini were held scoreless in the stretch.
Guard Santiago Vescovi added 12 points and nine rebounds against the much-taller Illini. Jonas Aidoo scored 14 and Josiah-Jordan James had 12 points and seven assists.
Quincy Guerrier and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 22 each to lead Illinois (7-2). Coleman Hawkins had 12. The Illini were limited to 33% shooting from the field.
NO. 5 UCONN 101, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Alex Karaban scored a career-high 26 points to lead UConn to a rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Tristen Newton scored 16 points, Cam Spencer had 15 and Donovan Clingan added 11 points and blocked three shots for the Huskies (9-1), who shot 56% from the floor and made 13 3-pointers.
Rashad Williams had 23 points to lead Pine Bluff (4-7).
The Huskies outscored the Golden Lions 56-30 in the second half.
NO. 16 KENTUCKY 81, PENN 66
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Bradshaw celebrated his homecoming with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Rob Dillingham also scored 17 points to lead Kentucky past Penn at the Wells Fargo Center.
Antonio Reeves scored 16 points for Kentucky.
The Wildcats (7-2) bounced back from last week’s loss to UNC-Wilmington in front of a decisive Big Blue crowd. Kentucky took over Philly — from four area players in the roster, to the bulk of the 8,000 or so fans in attendance — and was considered the home team even though the Quakers (6-5) traveled all of about 4 miles for the game from its Ivy League campus.
Clark Slajchert led the Quakers with 17 points. Tyler Perkins scored 15 and Sam Brown hit four 3-pointers for 12 points.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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